GAPearl's Second Valor Review- Solo Southern Caribbean Cruise! (2/24/13)

[gapearl]

Just wanted to let you know my DD13 loves all of your reviews. Shes only been on 1 cruise but of course shes hooked & ever since I told her we're booked for the Pride this Sept shes been on CC more than me :eek: Well at her bday party this past weekend she posed like your signature photo (instead of the poutty (sp) lips (thank goodness) & said thats her new pose, like Kim...well I said who the hell is Kim, she looked at me like I was crazy & said Gapearl from CC!!!

 

Think I have created a monster & you have a fan:D

 

TeeTee

 

I love it! :D Tell her I said happy birthday, and that she sounds like an awesome girl! If we ever end up on a cruise together, she can come with me to the spa for a mani/pedi. Leave her with the diva for an hour and you'll really have a monster on your hands! :eek: Haha I have a pose! :p

[Jeansfanatic]

Okay Kim! You are truly amazing!!!! Your writing skills made me feel as if I was there with you!!! I have taken a lot from both of your reviews. :)

 

I have a question. How often do they switch out the DJs??

 

I know I have more questions but instead of writing them down as I go. I couldn't stop reading and forgot them. LOL!

[nyladym]

Hi kim!

Your reviews are the best! I will be doing this itinerary the end of next month. I plan on partying in San Juan and wanted to know if you wore heels to the club and if so how hard was it walking on the cobblestone streets? I wore high wedges when I stopped in San Juan on a previous cruise and walking was an adventure. Lol!

Mel

[gapearl]

Okay Kim! You are truly amazing!!!! Your writing skills made me feel as if I was there with you!!! I have taken a lot from both of your reviews. :)

 

I have a question. How often do they switch out the DJs??

 

I know I have more questions but instead of writing them down as I go. I couldn't stop reading and forgot them. LOL!

 

Hi Crystal! You and your BFF are going to have a blast! :D

 

The DJs switch out I believe every 4-6 months, so the awesome DJs I had might not be on your sailing. Hopefully you'll still have a couple of good ones that will keep you on the dance floor like I did. Whenever you think of those other questions, go ahead and ask! :)

 

Hi kim!

Your reviews are the best! I will be doing this itinerary the end of next month. I plan on partying in San Juan and wanted to know if you wore heels to the club and if so how hard was it walking on the cobblestone streets? I wore high wedges when I stopped in San Juan on a previous cruise and walking was an adventure. Lol!

Mel

 

Hi Mel!

 

Thanks for the nice words! But of course, I wore heels to the club. It wasn't too bad walking on the cobblestone streets. You just have to be a little extra careful. I was never walking long distances though. The longest I had to walk was from Barrachina back to Da House, and that was only about 5-7 minutes. For the most part, you will be on sidewalks. Go ahead and rock your stilettos, and make sure to get a nap before the Nuyorican Cafe. :p

[nyladym]

Yes!!!! I wil be rocking my heels. I just didn't want to fall and break my neck before I got on the ship. Lol! I will be well rested to dance the night away. Thanks for your response and the advice. :D

 

Mel

[gapearl]

Yes!!!! I wil be rocking my heels. I just didn't want to fall and break my neck before I got on the ship. Lol! I will be well rested to dance the night away. Thanks for your response and the advice. :D

 

Mel

 

No problem! Do you have your excursions planned yet?

[nyladym]

No problem! Do you have your excursions planned yet?

 

I am going with a singles group and there are a little over 50 of us. I will be arriving in Puerto Rico the day before the cruise. I plan on eating good food, salsa dancing and drinking Gasolinas. :) I will be parasailing in St. Thomas, doing a full day tour with Cosol tours in St. Lucia, going to Harrison's Caves, the Mount Gay rum factory and the Boatyard in Barbados, doing Da Party Bus tour in St. Maarten and going to Cockleshell beach in St. Kitts. I will need a vacation after the vacation but it will be well worth it.

[gapearl]

I am going with a singles group and there are a little over 50 of us. I will be arriving in Puerto Rico the day before the cruise. I plan on eating good food, salsa dancing and drinking Gasolinas. :) I will be parasailing in St. Thomas, doing a full day tour with Cosol tours in St. Lucia, going to Harrison's Caves, the Mount Gay rum factory and the Boatyard in Barbados, doing Da Party Bus tour in St. Maarten and going to Cockleshell beach in St. Kitts. I will need a vacation after the vacation but it will be well worth it.

 

I wish I knew about Da Party Bus in St. Maarten! I might have done that and skipped Maho Beach. That looks like a lot of fun. Enjoy those gasolinas in PR! :D I hope you bring back a review when you return. I bet going with a singles group would be fun. I'd love to hear all about that. What's the age range of those in your group?

[nyladym]

Da Party Bus should be a blast. This will be my fourth singles cruise. The age group on this one is late twenties to sixties. This is the smallest group that I've ever sailed with. Halloween is the largest group and we had over 600 last year. The ages on the Halloween cruise is from the twenties to the seventies. Singles cruises are a lot of fun. We have group excursions. theme nights and open bar cocktail parties.

 

I would never write a review after reading yours. :D Besides, I don't have the patience to write a review.

[gapearl]

Da Party Bus should be a blast. This will be my fourth singles cruise. The age group on this one is late twenties to sixties. This is the smallest group that I've ever sailed with. Halloween is the largest group and we had over 600 last year. The ages on the Halloween cruise is from the twenties to the seventies. Singles cruises are a lot of fun. We have group excursions. theme nights and open bar cocktail parties.

 

I would never write a review after reading yours. :D Besides, I don't have the patience to write a review.

 

Good info. Sounds like a lot of fun! I might book one of those next year....assuming that I'm still single. :rolleyes: You'd write a great review. :) But yes, they do take a lot of time. I don't know where I get the patience from myself. Have fun!!!!!! :D

[chrisedwards]

GA Pearl

 

I have read on these boards that The Boatyard is extremely crowded. I was wondering if you found it to be overcrowded and also are the water toys included in the $12 fee. One other question, were you worried about your chair when you left to snorkel with the turtles. Thanks for the information. Loved your review. :)

[Guatiao]

GA Pearl

 

I have read on these boards that The Boatyard is extremely crowded. I was wondering if you found it to be overcrowded and also are the water toys included in the $12 fee. One other question, were you worried about your chair when you left to snorkel with the turtles. Thanks for the information. Loved your review. :)

 

I was in Boatyard this last Saturday and after noon they closed it due to having sooooo much people.

[gapearl]

GA Pearl

 

I have read on these boards that The Boatyard is extremely crowded. I was wondering if you found it to be overcrowded and also are the water toys included in the $12 fee. One other question, were you worried about your chair when you left to snorkel with the turtles. Thanks for the information. Loved your review. :)

 

I didn't find it to be overcrowded the day I was there. Yes, there were a lot of people out, but it wasn't like OMG get me out of here this place is bananas crowded. I didn't have a chair prior to my snorkeling trip, and had no problem getting an umbrella and a chair when I got back. Yes, all the water toys (including the rope swing) are included in the $12 price. Thanks for reading! I hope you have a blast on your cruise. :)

 

I was in Boatyard this last Saturday and after noon they closed it due to having sooooo much people.

 

Hola mi amigo de Ponce! How was your cruise? :D

[Chitownlou]

Ms. GAPEARL... a/k/a Queen of the Valor... lol my "diva" wanted to know how many "elegant" nights are there during the cruise

[gapearl]

Ms. GAPEARL... a/k/a Queen of the Valor... lol my "diva" wanted to know how many "elegant" nights are there during the cruise

 

Two "official" elegant nights (sea day and St. Lucia), but for a real diva, SEVEN! :p:D:cool:

 

Queen of the Valor. Love it. LOL :)

[Chitownlou]

Two "official" elegant nights (sea day and St. Lucia), but for a real diva, SEVEN! :p:D:cool:

 

Queen of the Valor. Love it. LOL :)

 

Cool... Thanks... well she might do the 7... I'm definitely doing only the 2.

[Guatiao]

Hola mi amigo de Ponce! How was your cruise? :D

 

Hi there! Besides a little mishap a few days at dinner on the Anytime option, it was awesome! I liked the Valor much more than the Victory. And now Toda La Banda is on the Valor since 2 weeks ago, I love how they play Latin music.

[gapearl]

Cool... Thanks... well she might do the 7... I'm definitely doing only the 2.

 

LOL!!!!!!

 

Hi there! Besides a little mishap a few days at dinner on the Anytime option, it was awesome! I liked the Valor much more than the Victory. And now Toda La Banda is on the Valor since 2 weeks ago, I love how they play Latin music.

 

Awesome! Sorry you had a bad experience with anytime dining. I never went to listen to any of the live bands this trip. I thought I would after going to hear the Latin band every night on my Navigator cruise last year, but never did this trip. I'd just hear them in passing on the promenade at night. Welcome home and back to reality! ;)

[chrisedwards]

Thanks so much for your quick response to my question. You have been so helpful I can't thank you enough for all of your great information.

[RNnNC]

I'm loving this! We just booked yesterday and I'm so excited. I am curious though, what were the two apps that you displayed in the begining of your review? Spanish word of the day and the map?

 

Thanks!

[gapearl]

Thanks so much for your quick response to my question. You have been so helpful I can't thank you enough for all of your great information.

 

You're welcome Chris! Good luck planning and enjoy your cruise!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

[gapearl]

I'm loving this! We just booked yesterday and I'm so excited. I am curious though, what were the two apps that you displayed in the begining of your review? Spanish word of the day and the map?

 

Thanks!

 

The Spanish app is called Mind Snacks. I also downloaded it in Italian before I went to Rome and plan to download Portuguese as well. It's 50 lessons for $5. You will get a lot of vocabulary, learn how to conjugate verbs, learn basic phrases, etc. I highly recommend it if you want to start learning another language. The map isn't a downloaded app. It's the standard map on the iPhone 4S.

 

 

Congrats on booking this cruise! It's an awesome itinerary. Have fun planning!

 

 

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[Windinmahair]

The Spanish app is called Mind Snacks. I also downloaded it in Italian before I went to Rome and plan to download Portuguese as well. It's 50 lessons for $5. You will get a lot of vocabulary, learn how to conjugate verbs, learn basic phrases, etc. I highly recommend it if you want to start learning another language. The map isn't a downloaded app. It's the standard map on the iPhone 4S.

 

[ATTACH]268652[/ATTACH]

 

Congrats on booking this cruise! It's an awesome itinerary. Have fun planning!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

 

Thank you GaPearl for sharing your awesome adventure. We are cruising on the Valor in December and visiting Puerto Rico for 5 days pre-cruise. I got a wealth of useful info from your review. I just download Mind Snacks for Spanish and it was free! Who knows for how long but I do love a bargain :)

Cheryl

[Windinmahair]

Thank you GaPearl for sharing your awesome adventure. We are cruising on the Valor in December and visiting Puerto Rico for 5 days pre-cruise. I got a wealth of useful info from your review. I just download Mind Snacks for Spanish and it was free! Who knows for how long but I do love a bargain :)

Cheryl

 

Going through the App Store you do download for free. But it is for one lesson. You are invited to upgrade. There goes the bargain I loved. lol But it looks like GaPearl found a great App and I am happy to pay for the upgrade.

[INCHARGE]

Is it ok that I used toe pictures you posted for me in my signature? If not, I will respectfully remove them. I want to make sure it's ok with you.